Chapter 229: The Tattered Heavenly Dao Scroll
The barrier around the Crystal Hall sizzled as dragon's blood dissolved it.
"Why is this barrier so thick? It's even thicker than the barrier around the Ancestral Dragon's Hall! Do I even have enough dragon's blood for this...?" Xiao Nanfeng wondered.
Fortunately, just as he was about to run out of dragon's blood, a hole had formed in the barrier large enough for him to pass through.
He wiped the remaining dragon's blood around the edges of the hole, then leapt through.
The hole closed up just as his body made it all the way in, sealing the interior of the Crystal Hall from the outside once more.
Xiao Nanfeng gasped in relief. He had almost faltered at a critical threshold, but fortunately, he had made it in the end.
The interior of the Crystal Hall shone with glimmering light. Everything seemed to sparkle. The entire hall appeared to be composed of precious crystals. The pillars of coiling dragons, an enormous dragon throne—everything formed of lustrous, shining crystal. The hall was lavish and ostentatious.
However, Xiao Nanfeng wasn't enraptured by the crystal. He knew that the most precious object had to be what lay in the middle of the hall—and perhaps the most dangerous, too. A huge mirror stood there, the height of two men, with countless crystals embedded on its back. It was particularly exquisite. A piece of tattered yellow cloth hung over the mirror's surface, covering all of it up. Where the cloth had frayed or formed holes, Xiao Nanfeng could see a small portion of his reflection. A lurid red dragon had been painted on the cloth's surface, and it seemed particularly sinister.
Xiao Nanfeng could sense a strong aura of intimidation imbued into the cloth. The blood dragon painted on it seemed to give off tremendous killing intent, as though warning him not to draw near.
"This yellow cloth is a talisman, isn't it? Is it sealing this mirror away?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured curiously.
Rather than step forward, Xiao Nanfeng carefully inspected the mirror and its surroundings. He searched the walls in case they held any hints. Unfortunately, there was no helpful text this time around.
"Madam Rouge, what's this mirror?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
Madam Rouge's projection appeared again. She wrote, "You must be quite cautious if you haven't touched that mirror yet."
"Of course not! The barrier around the Crystal Hall is a few times thicker than around the Ancestral Dragon's Hall. The treasures within must be even more dangerous. I could easily get into trouble if I were to act rashly. What is it that you want?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
Madam Rouge didn't speak. She carefully examined the mirror in silence.
"What's the matter? Is something wrong with this mirror?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
It took some time before Madam Rouge wrote to Xiao NAnfeng, "The draconic palace is truly lavish. It has an incredible assortment of treasures—even something like this."
"Are you talking about the mirror, or this yellow cloth with a painted dragon?"
"Yellow cloth?" Madam Rouge scoffed. "Do you know what this is?"
"Isn't it just a bolt of tattered cloth? Is there more to it?"
"It's a scroll of the Heavenly Dao."
"The Heavenly Dao?"
"In primordial times, when the Heavenly Dao still existed as a physical entity, it was accompanied by a scroll on which the laws of the physical world were written down and made manifest. Supernatural cultivators, weapons, treasures, events—all would be recorded on the scroll. When the Heavenly Dao subsequently collapsed, the scroll was destroyed and lost in the annals of history. I can't believe it's here. Despite having been destroyed, the scroll still possesses tremendous potency. The dragons were somehow able to find it. They used it as a medium to create a talisman inscribed with the blood of ten thousand dragons, all just to seal this mirror."
Xiao Nanfeng's eyes opened wide. "Really? This tattered bolt of cloth? The dragon painted on it bears the blood of ten thousand dragons? Is this mirror stronger, or the scroll of the Heavenly Dao?"
"The mirror is incomplete, as is the scroll of the Heavenly Dao. They're counteracting one another," Madam Rouge replied.
"Madam Rouge, is the object you want this mirror?" Xiao Nanfeng guessed.
"Are you willing to reclaim this mirror for me?" Madam Rouge asked.
Xiao Nanfeng was taken aback. Madam Rouge had said 'reclaim', not 'claim'. Did this mirror use to belong to her?
"Madam Rouge, we're friends, aren't we? Of course I'd help you. You can have the mirror, and I'll take the scroll of the Heavenly Dao," Xiao Nanfeng promised.
Madam Rouge stared at Xiao Nanfeng before writing, "Very well."
Xiao Nanfeng blinked in surprise. Why had Madam Rouge agreed so readily? Was there a problem with the scroll?
"This scroll of the Heavenly Dao might be tattered, but it used to contain the manifest laws of the natural world. It is an extraordinary material, and you may forge it into a code of laws for your kingdom."
"A code of laws?" Xiao Nanfeng gave Madam Rouge a doubtful look.
"Don't you intend on establishing a kingdom? Not only will you need an imperial seal to store fortune, you'll need to establish a code of laws that governs your kingdom. This scroll will house that code of laws, enact its will, and absorb fortune to manifest those laws in reality. It is the hallmark of a kingdom, which can seal deities and Immortals even as it nurtures the common people. Those who enter your kingdom shall be subject to its code of laws in pact and practice; those who violate it shall be punished accordingly. Your kingdom's laws are that which will govern whether it might persist for perpetuity," Madam Rouge wrote formally.
"I do intend on establishing a code of laws, but considering how tattered this scroll is, would it be effective for this purpose?" Xiao Nanfeng worried.
"Just sew it up and you'll be able to use it."
Xiao Nanfeng gave her a strange look.
A code of laws, something sacrosanct to a kingdom, imbued onto tattered cloth stitched back together...
"Are you unwilling?"
"No, I am, I am. I'll patch it. As long as it's functional, I don't care how it looks."
"Then let's get started. The dragon painted on this scroll was composed of ten thousand dragons' worth of blood, and the resulting talisman is exceptionally strong. It can only be nullified with dragon's might of equivalent caliber."
"Dragon's might of equivalent caliber? How?"
"Why were Long Ba and Long Jiu's tokens able to command the skeletal dragons? It's because they contained the might of two elders of the draconic clan. They might not be as strong as the might of the dragon king, but the elders of the draconic clan were likewise able to command tens of thousands of dragons in their prime. The dragon's might within these two tokens should barely suffice for your needs. Try it."
"I understand," Xiao Nanfeng replied.
He retrieved Long Jiu's token and placed it on the talisman. The talisman began to move. Blood-colored light emanated from it and struck Long Jiu's token, which sent out clouds of black light. The black light suppressed the blood light; both sources of light dissipated.
"It really does work!" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.
Xiao Nanfeng waited for two whole hours as the red and black light gushed out of the token and the talisman, then fizzled away.
Suddenly, with an audible snap, a crack formed in Long Jiu's token. The majority of the dragon's might imbued within it had been consumed, and the token itself was falling apart. However, the blood dragon painted on the scroll of the Heavenly Dao had also faded to a surprising extent.
After another hour, Long Jiu's token finally vanished in a cloud of black fog as all the dragon's might within it was consumed. That black fog absorbed more bloody light as it vanished entirely.
Xiao Nanfeng retrieved Long Ba's token and held it up to the talisman.
Another two hours passed before Long Ba's token vanished in a cloud of black smoke as well. By then, the blood dragon on the scroll of the Heavenly Dao had been entirely consumed.
All that remained was a bolt of tattered cloth that hung loosely over the mirror.
Without the blood dragon rendering the mirror a talisman, it began to flap and furl, as though it could fall from the mirror at any moment.
"Can it be removed from the mirror now?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
"It can be hidden within your stellar lake. I advise you to immediately wrap any valuables on your body within it, bundle it up, then store it in your stellar lake."
"Why?"
"Something unexpected may happen."
"Something unexpected? What?"
Madam Rouge refused to explain. "Either trust me or don't."
Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "I feel like you've hoodwinked me..."
"After you store the scroll securely, all you need to do is stand before the mirror." Madam Rouge waited patiently for Xiao Nanfeng to do so.
Xiao Nanfeng thought it best to follow orders.
He removed the scroll from the mirror, which seemed perfectly ordinary. However, without any hesitation, he wrapped up all his treasures within the scroll and surrounded it with his spiritual power, as Madam Rouge had suggested, before storing it in his stellar lake. The scroll, like an ownerless possession, succumbed to Xiao Nanfneg's will without any hesitation.
"Now what?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.
He turned around to find that Madam Rouge had vanished.
Xiao Nanfeng: ...
He felt as though the 'unexpected thing' that Madam Rouge had mentioned was just about to take place.
He carefully examined the mirror, but it didn't seem exceptional at all.
Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes. His reflection in the mirror was smiling in a sinister fashion.
He was certain he wasn't smiling; why was his reflection giving him such a ghastly smile? Goosebumps formed all over his body.
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